Writers: Brenden Fletcher, Becky Cloonan / Artist: Karl Kerschl / DC Comics
Bruh. Let’s keep it 100: even “meh” issues of Gotham Academy are fun to read. Issue #10 didn’t have nearly enough Maps but had plenty of entertainment from other, unexpected places, from heavy Gargoyles Macbeth references to a surprise villain twist. This issue reminds us the wide range of tools this series utilizes to keep every issue interesting.
Let’s be honest, no one really enjoys Shakespeare – maybe 2% of your friends, the same 2% that ruined karaoke with bad songs last weekend after you “forgot” to send them the Facebook invite for your birthday party but they found out and came anyway – and the Detective Club giving me flashbacks of English class with Ms. Rosas won’t change my mind. But if it inspires interest for young readers then that’s amazing, and the show must go on so we were gonna freak this review anyway.
Supernatural occurrences have folk shook and all roads lead back to Olive’s mother as the Detective Club tries to solve who’s haunting the school. As far as Olive’s concerned, she already knows who it is: it’s the ghost of her own mother. That’s messed up, yo. I feel like Olive needs an adventure with Zuko, like “Yeah, my moms went crazy and now she haunts my school’s theater.”
That’s still more consolation than what Professor Strange can offer, yo. Fam, why is this dude a school counselor? Olive comes to my man with her deepest emotions and Professor ScratchNSniff gives her riddles and a Kleenex, like “Can you go now? Yakko, Wakko, and Dot breaking out the damn tower as we speak.” If my psychologist came to me looking like MTV’s The Head I can’t listen to what they have to say, I’m too distracted. I can’t take advice from the missing Street Shark. Doesn’t matter if he’s brilliant – if I can play a game of chess off the top of your dome I’m laughing in your face and apologizing later. But I digress.
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Meanwhile, that nightmare fuel named Katherine is in a perpetual state of kicking rocks. Everyone treats Katherine like a stray dog, but not like an American stray dog, I mean like a stray dog in Eastern Europe. If I had to guess I’d say Katherine grows up to be Toby from The Office. I imagine Karl Kerschl draws her with his eyes closed because humankind can’t knowingly make a child so horrible and sad. She got luggage under her eyes and she’s only like 15, man. It’s gonna be a hard life, man.
No earth-shattering exposition in this issue, but Gotham Academy #10 still adds to a great story even without much progress. Any issue with a throwback villain from Batman: The Animated Series is automatically a win, and the big reveal in this issue was very well done, visually jarring, and fun to read. And Olive has at least one trademark badass line where she threatens someone 10x her size for talking shit about her mother. Pretty sure Olive is 2 steps away from going full Stinkmeaner and calling out the Lord of Darkness himself if he steps to her wrong. We’re all going to ride out with this series for a good, long time.
8.8 out of 10
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